Separable rug construction



Dec. 9, 1947. M. NEWMAN SEPRBLE RUG CONSTRUCTION Filed Jan. 9, 1947 INVENTOR. MILTON NEWMAN HTTIVEY Patented Dec. 9, 1,947u

UNITED STATES ATENT OFFICE SEPARABLE RUG CGNSTRUCTION Milton Newman, Philadelphia, Pa. Application January 9, 1947, Serial No. 721,095

Claims. 1

This invention relates generally to floor rugs and more particularly to a construction of a sepq arable pile rug, it being among the principal objects of the present invention to provide a simple and effective means for detachably joining together two or more sections of a rug, each oi which may be complete in and of itself, whereby any desired shape and size of rug may be obtained as may be required to adequately cover a given floor area.

Heretofore and prior to the present invention, it has been the common practice to manufacture floor rugs of predeterminedly fixed sizes, thereby necessitating the manufacturers to supply and the dealers to maintain on hand large stocks of Various sizes of rugs in order adequately to meet the demands of customers who must purchase rugs of sizes to meet their own personal requiren ments. Where such rugs are of relatively large size, they become diicult to handle not only in the stores where they are displayed for sale, but also in the homes where they are placed in use, as when it becomes necessary to clean or otherwise renovate the same. This is true even in the case of carpeting made in the form of a continuous web from which is adapted to be cut any desired length of rug, because usually such webs of carpeting are of widths suilicient to permit large size rugs to be cut therefrom.

The present invention eliminates the necessity on the part of the dealer to maintain a large stoclff; of various sizes of rugs, inasmuch as the rug constructed in accordance with the present invention may be made of equal size units any number of which may be detachably secured together to form a complete floor covering of the final size required, each unit of the rug being of a size convenient for handling b-oth by the dealer and the ultimate user of the rug.

More specifically, it is an object of the present invention to provide floor rug units of such typical and standardized construction as to permit of their interchangeable use in the fabrication of a rug of any desired shape and size, and to facilitate their manufacture and handling both by the manufacturer and the dealer, the individual rug units being each provided with me is for facilitating the assembly and securement together of any desired number of units expedi tiously and Without the use of any special apparatus or equipment.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear more fully hereinafter, it being understood that the said invention consists in the combination, construction, location and relatit-.

arrangement of parts, as described more fully hereinafter, as shown in the accompanying drawings and as finally pointed out in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings, which illustrate a preferred embodiment or the present invention:

Figure l is a face view of a portion of a pile rug formed of a plurality of rug units constructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention;

Figure 2 is a back view of the pile rug shown in Figure l;

Figures 3 and 4 are sectional views taken respectively on the lines 3-3 and lof Figure 2;

Figure 5 is an enlarged View showing in separated relation the adjoining edges of a pair of rug units and the co-rd for joining the same together; and

Figure 6 is a view similarto Figure 5 but showing the adjoining edges of the rug units joined together by the connecting cord.

n the construction of the floor rug of the present invention, the individual units thereof may be of any desired knitted o1' woven construe-- tion to provide each such unit with a backing having upon its upper face a cut or loop pile. Thus, the individual rug units may be of the conventional woven pile fabric construction ci they may be of the warp-knitted pile fabric construction described in my prior United States Letters Patent No. 2,229,469 of January 2l, wel, and No. 2,396,525 of March 12, 1946. However fabricated the individual rug units of the present invention are particularly characterized by the fact that they are each of a standardized convenient to be stocked and handled by the dealer, the preferred practice being to make their.- of a throw-rug size so that any desired number of them may be purchased and assembled by the ultimate user to form a floor rug of requisite size and shape. To this end, each of the individual rug units is originally formed complete in and of itself with the marginal edges thereof provided with means for permitting ready joining of adjacent edges of a pair of adjoining units, the arrangement being such that upon joining together a plurality of such units the juncture seam therebetween is completely concealed by the face pile of the rug fabric so that a floor rug formed of a plurality of the individual units has the appearance of a one-piece structure.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, it will be observed that each individual rug unit lll is provided with a lower backing Il and an upper face pile I2 formed of looped yarns which may be sheared or cut, if desired, to provide a cut pile surface, the marginal edges of each unit being salvaged or otherwise nished to prevent ravelling thereof. Suitably secured to the under surface or backing of each rug unit l is a loop-forming tape I3 extending marginally about the perimetral edges of the rug unit, this tape I3 being formed of a yarn successive portions of which are arranged in sinuous form to provide a series of longitudinally spaced open loops ll extending freely from one marginal edge of the tape I3. Preferably, the successive reversely turned portions of the yarn forming said band I3 are chain stitched together, as along the lines I-I5 (see Figures 5 and 6), such tape I3 being thus such as may be conveniently produced upon a warp-knitting machine for making fringes and the like, such an apparatus being shown, for example, in United States Letters Patent No. 1,748,495 of February 25, 1930.

The loop-forming tape I3 is permanently secured to the backing II of each individual rug unit IQ in any suitable manner, as by a line of stitching Iii, the disposition of the tape I3 relatively to the marginal edges of the rug unit being such that the outer ends of the spaced loops I4 are approximately coincident with said marginal edges of the rug unit. Preferably a length of the loop-forming tape I3 is secured to each marginal edge of a rug unit, and, if desired, the tape may be of a single length extending continuously about the perimeter of the rug unit. For most satisfactory results, the tape I3 should be coextensive in length with the edge of the rug to which it is secured in order to provide such edge with a plurality of freely extending loops Ill spaced longitudinally along the full length of the edge of the rug unit. Also, the spacing of the loops Il should be such as to permit the loops spaced along the edge of one unit to be freely interdigitated with the loops spaced along the adjoining edge of a second unit, it beingobserved in this connection that the interdigitated loops (see Figures 3, 4 and 6) are disposed in substantially co-planar relation with respect to each other.

When the loops I 4 of adjoining rug units are disposed in overlapping relation as shown in Figures 2 and 6, they may be interlaced by a suitable lacing cord Il to secure and hold together the adjoining rug units in closely assembled relation, the free ends of the lacing cord being each tied, as at I8, to a pair of adjacent loops I4. If desired, the cord Il may be intermedately tied, as at I9, to one or more of the loops III to prevent any tendency of the rug units to creep relatively to each other, thereby further assuring proper registry of the joined units.

It will be understood that the individual rug units Il may each be provided with loop-forming tapes I3 only along the edges thereof which `are to be joined together. However, in order to standardize construction of the rug units and to permit their disposition at any` point in an assembly thereof, it is preferred that each unitJ be provided with loops I4 spaced longitudinally along all marginal edges thereof. In such latter case, the loops which are unnecessary to be used in lacing together adjoining rug units are freely disposed beneath the marginal edges of the completely assembled floor covering. It will be understood further that as many of the individual rug units Ill may be assembled together as are necessary to form the desired shape and size of the floor covering, and that whenso assembled, the interlaced loops I4 and their interlacing cord I'I lie beneath the vadjoining marginal edges of the several interconnected rug units and so are completely concealed from View by the overlying pile of the rug. Thus, as shown in Figures 1 and 2, four rug units are assembled to produce a floor covering having the appearance of a single rug.

While in the illustrated embodiment of the present invention, the loops I I are formed upon the rug unit I9 by means of securing thereto the loop-forming tape I3 as described, it will be understood that such loops may be otherwise incorporated in the individual rug units. Thus, such loops may be formed as integral elements of the rug backing II, the loops being included in the backing during the course of manufacture of the rug unit. Also, the present invention is applicable to carpeting produced in continuous web form and sold to the dealer in the form of rolls of such carpeting. In such case, the web is of such relatively limited width that sections cut from the roll are of a size convenient for handling, the opposite longitudinal edges of the carpeting so produced being provided with the longitudinally spaced lacing loops I4 as hereinbefore described, so that any number of sections cut from the roll of carpeting may be laced together as aforesaid to provide a door covering which is two or more times wider than the original web width of the carpeting, the multiplied width of the carpeting being dependent upon the number of sections laced together Accordingly, it will be understood that the present invention is susceptible of various changes and modifications which may be made from time to time without departing from the general principles or real spirit thereof, and it is accordingly intended to claim the same broadly, as well as specifically, as indicated in the appended claims.

What is claimed as new and useful is:

l. A door covering of the character described comprising a plurality of individually complete rug units each of Which is provided with a back-A ing having an upper facing of pgle-forming yarns and with a series of freely extending coplanar loops spaced about the marginal edges thereof, the spaced loops along an edge of one of said units being adapted to be intertted with the coirespondingly spaced loops extending along an edge of another unit whereby to present the intertted loops in registry with one another, and a detachable lacing cord extending through said registered loops to separably join together the adjoining edges of a pair of said units.

2. In a floor covering of the character described, an individually complete rug unit having a backing and an upper facing of pile-forming yarns, said backing being provided along one or more of its marginal edges with a series of freely extending open loops adapted to be interleaved with correspondingly spaced loops extending along a marginal edge of an adjoining rug unit, said marginal loops being disposed with their outer ends substantially coincident with the outer edge of the unit with Which they are associated and being adapted to receive therethrough a lacing cord by means of which two or more of said units may be separably connected to provide a loor covering of any desired size.

3. In a floor covering of the character described, an individually complete rug unit having along a marginal edge of an adjoining rug unit, said marginal loops being disposed with their outer ends substantially coincident with the outer edge of the unit With which they are associated and being adapted to receive therethrough a lacing cord by means of which two or more of said units may be separably connected to provide a floor covering of any desired size, the lacing cord being disposed substantially along the line of juncture of adjoining rug units and being concealed from view by the pile-forming yarns of the adjoining units which merge to produce a simulated one-piece pile rug.

4. A oor covering of the character described comprising a rug unit including a backing having a facing of pile-forming yarns and a loop-forming tape secured to the backing and extending along one or more of its marginal edges, said tape being characterized in that it consists of a yarn arranged in sinuous form to provide a series of freely extending loops spaced along the marginal edge of the rug unit with their outer extremities substantially coincident with the outer edge of the unit whereby said loops are normally concealed from View by the overlying pile facing of the unit.

5. A floor covering of the character described comprising a rug unit including a backing having a facing of pile-forming yarns and a, loopforming tape secured to the backing and extending along one or more of its marginal edges, said tape being characterized in that it consists of a yarn arranged in sinuous form to provide a series of freely extending loops spaced along the marginal edge of the rug unit with their outer extremities substantially coincident with the outer edge of the unit whereby said loops are normally concealed from view by the overlying pile facing of the unit, the freely extending marginal edge loops of one unit being adapted to be interdigitated with the corresponding loops of an adjoining unit, and a removable lacing cord extending through the interdigitated loops of a, pair of adjoining units to separably join the latter together to provide a floor covering the pile facing of which presents the appearance of a one-piece pile rug.

MILTON NEWMAN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,748,495 Newman Feb. 25, 1930 2,106,119 Krasselt Jan. 18, 1938 2,229,469 Newman Jan. 21, 1941 2,379,085 Kahn June 26, 1945 2,396,525 Newman Mar. 12, 1946 2,398,645 Kahn Apr. 16, 1946 

